West Papua will record new tourism potential

The West Papua Provincial Government will carry out new tourism development after the release of Raja Ampat and Triton Bay which are included in the new autonomous region (DOB) of Southwest Papua.

Head of the West Papua Culture and Tourism Office, Ruland Sarwom, said in Manokwari on Tuesday that he would collect data on strategic tourism locations in the remaining areas of West Papua. "We can no longer be proud of Raja Ampat and Triton Kaimana because they have become part of Southwest Papua, we will collect data on tourism potential in West Papua," he said.

Ruland admitted that his party would look for tourism potential which could later become an icon of West Papua. This is because Raja Ampat, which has been a mainstay destination so far, has become the property of a new province. "There is a lot of tourism potential, for example Lake Anggi in the Arfak Mountains, and beaches and coral in Wondama which can later be worked on to become West Papua tourism icons," he explained.

The two lakes in the Arfak mountains have so far not been touched for tourism development, even though it is seen that they have enormous potential because the lakes are above an altitude of 2,950 above sea level.
 
Ruland said, the main obstacle in the Arfak mountains is road access which is still quite difficult to pass by public transportation. "We will encourage it to be managed professionally, of course supported by good road access and facilities that can be provided to every visitor," continued Ruland.

In addition, West Papua has very beautiful beaches in the Manokwari and Wondama Bay areas which can be promoted as tourist destinations for local and foreign tourists. "I think the coasts in Manokwari and Teluk Wondama district have good potential if they are developed and taken seriously, because previously the focus of the city was on Raja Ampat," he said.

SOURCE : https://mataram.antaranews.com/berita/246018/papua-barat-akan-mendata-potential-wisata-baru